Curried Turkey Salad

It's finally starting to warm up and get green here in the Great Northland and I am so happy! The view out my kitchen window has gone from a stark landscape of white yard and brown woods beyond to a bright, happy lushness! I am still jealous of my friends to the south, with their earlier spring, but I am starting to feel as though I have, perhaps, survived my first Michigan winter.

With temperatures soaring all the way up to 70 degrees earlier today (does it give any other new Michigan residents a start to hear that it's going to dip down to 7 degrees, only to realize it's a Canadian radio station?), it was a great night for a big ol' salad as our main course. I made a curried turkey salad, with garlic naan and gorgeous, fat, red grapes to accompany it. It was splendid! I loved the freshness, after a winter of stews and roasts. If I were serving company & wanted dessert to fancy it up a bit, I would simply serve scoops of mango sorbet with, perhaps, a lemon cooler cookie or two.

Curried Turkey Salad

1/3 head broccoli, cut into florets

2 c. cubed, cooked turkey (I got the deli just to cut me a couple very thick slabs of roast turkey lunchmeat)

1 can garbanzos, drained & rinsed (to reduce sodium content)

1 English cucumber, quartered and thickly sliced

2 carrots, quartered and thickly sliced

4 or 5 scallions, sliced

About 1/4 c. ranch dressing (low-fat will work great)

About 1 tbsp. curry powder

Salt & pepper, to taste

Salad greens (I used butter lettuce & red leaf lettuce, but spinach or arugula would make a nice addition)

Steam the broccoli for just a couple minutes to soften it a little. Cool. Mix together everything but the salad greens. Serve turkey salad on a bed of salad greens. Serves 4-6.